Bitcoin dropped to approximately $80,500 on Friday before recovering toward $84,000, following stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data that showed 119,000 new jobs in September. The sell-off triggered over $2 billion in liquidations of leveraged positions within 24 hours, affecting roughly 400,000 traders. JPMorgan analysts cited approximately $4 billion in withdrawals from spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs since early November as a primary driver of the correction.

The Department of Homeland Security has launched Operation Red Sunset to investigate whether Bitmain's bitcoin mining equipment could enable espionage or sabotage of the U.S. power grid. The probe examined chips and firmware in detained devices at U.S. ports, according to Bloomberg. Bitmain denied the allegations and stated it has no knowledge of the investigation.

RippleX Head of Engineering J. Ayo Akinyele and departing Ripple CTO David Schwartz have explored potential pathways for introducing native staking to the XRP Ledger. Both emphasized that such proposals remain exploratory and would require significant protocol modifications. The discussion follows increased XRP activity in decentralized finance applications and the recent approval of Canary's spot XRP ETF in the United States.

Perpetual futures traders expanded open interest by more than 36,000 BTC over the past week, the largest weekly growth since April 2023, as bitcoin fell 14% to an intraday low of $89,183 on Tuesday. K33 Research Head of Research Vetle Lunde noted funding rates climbed alongside the leverage increase, indicating traders are attempting to catch falling prices rather than adopting defensive positions. The current market structure mirrors seven similar regimes over the past five years, six of which saw continued declines over the following month with an average 30-day return of -16%.

Bitcoin's roughly 25% drop from its all-time high near $126,000 represents a short-term correction rather than a cycle-peak downturn, according to Bernstein analysts. The firm points to rising institutional ownership in ETFs—from 20% to 28%—and substantial absorption of long-term holder supply through $34 billion in combined ETF inflows and corporate purchases. Strategy's conservative leverage and structural tailwinds including political support and favorable liquidity conditions suggest a shallower consolidation than the 60-70% drawdowns of previous cycles.

California-based Auradine has released its next-generation Teraflux bitcoin mining hardware, achieving energy efficiency as low as 9.8 joules per terahash in select configurations. The new lineup includes air-cooled, hydro-cooled, and immersion-cooled models designed for large-scale mining operations. Initial samples are scheduled for Q2 2026, with volume shipments planned for Q3 2026.

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds drew $524 million in net inflows on Tuesday, the strongest single-day performance since October 10. BlackRock's IBIT led with $224.2 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC at $165.9 million. Since launching in January 2024, these funds have accumulated $60.8 billion in total net inflows, with cumulative trading volume nearing $1.5 trillion.

SoFi Technologies introduced SoFi Crypto on Tuesday, becoming the first nationally chartered bank to offer direct cryptocurrency trading to retail customers. Members can buy, sell, and hold digital assets including BTC, ETH, and SOL through a phased rollout integrated within the SoFi app. The service allows transactions directly from FDIC-insured accounts without transferring funds to external platforms.

Bitcoin dropped 10% over the past week to retest $100,000, recording its weakest 30-day performance against the Nasdaq since July 2024. Despite bearish sentiment following October's $20 billion deleveraging event, easing monetary policy, potential 401(k) crypto access, and increased bank participation suggest the decline represents consolidation rather than a cycle peak, according to K33 Research.